Easley pastor Mark Burns launched an effort Wednesday to register 75,000 voters in South Carolina's 4th Congressional District. He is running as a Republican for the seat.(Photo: Kirk Brown/Independent Mail)

Armed with a pistol, Easley pastor and former Congressional candidate Mark Burns confronted two teenagers he thought were breaking into his RV and said he was able to defend his home and property thanks to the Second Amendment and Jesus.

Burns, a supporter of President Donald Trump and unsuccessful candidate for the 4th District Congressional seat, told Easley police officers he heard what sounded like someone attempting to break into his bus on Friday night.

Burns said he saw feet under the bus and heard a "metal ticking noise" that sounded like someone "trying to open a lock," in his statement to police.

Burns said he went back into a building on Wyatt Avenue to get his gun, came back and told the two people that he had a gun. He told them not to leave and then called the police, according to the police report.

When officers responded to the "possible burglary" at the location, they asked Burns to put his gun down and step away.

Burns said he was not hurt because he complied with the commands he was given to put his loaded gun down.

“I had a gun defending myself, but yet I’m not hurt or disrespected,” Burns said to the Independent Mail. “They asked me to place the gun down and I followed their instructions.”

The teenagers told police they weren't breaking into or tampering with the bus, and the noise Burns heard was probably when they sat on the steps, according to the police report.

As the responding officer checked the bus for damage, he smelled marijuana and saw a glass jar with six grams of a "green plant-like substance believed to be marijuana" and a pink metal grinder with residue from a "green plant-like substance also believed to be marijuana."

Easley Police Chief Tim Tollison said that Burns had the right to detain the pair if he thought they were going to damage his property.

"If they certainly feel like they're going to vandalize or tamper with their property, I think they can [detain them], but I don't know if I recommend it all the time."

Burns said he wasn't "trigger happy," but in hindsight, he probably would not have come out with his gun again, especially considering how young one of the teens was, but his priority at the time was to protect his property.

"I truly believe they were trying to break in because I know what I heard," he said. "In hindsight, I think it would've been wiser on my part to call the police once I heard the noise."

One of the teens was charged with simple possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. A 16-year-old was released into parental custody. Burns said the teen reached out later to apologize to him via social media.

Burns was a speaker at the 2016 Republican National Convention and has frequently been at Trump's speaking engagements.